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News of Tesco’s accounting scandal sent shockwaves through the City in 2014 and raised serious questions over how a FTSE 100 firm could get away with “cooking the books”.

The grocery giant issued a series of profit warnings in the run up to the September announcement about overstated profits, as the group reeled under the disastrous reign of then-chief executive Philip Clarke.

Mr Clarke, who left the retailer just before the scandal, presided over a tumultuous period for Britain’s biggest retailer, in which market share slumped as Tesco came under pressure from discount rivals Aldi and Lidl.

The bombshell disclosure came on September 22, when the company admitted that issues uncovered in its UK food business meant it was likely to have overstated profits by £250 million.

The disclosures wiped £2 billion off the supermarket’s share price in one day, and the overstatement was later revised up to £326 million.

Tesco ordered an immediate review into the errors, undertaken by Deloitte and law firm Freshfields, but the damage had already been done.

Tesco suspended eight directors and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) charged three former executives – Carl Rogberg, Chris Bush and John Scouler – with fraud after the black hole was discovered.

To compound matters, the scandal contributed to Tesco’s £6.4 billion loss in 2015, one of the largest in corporate history.

In 2017, Tesco reached an agreement with authorities over the scandal that saw it pay £85 million in compensation payouts to investors and £129 million in fines and costs.

The Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the SFO saw the company escape prosecution but book a total hit of £235 million.

The agreement came as Britain’s financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, concluded that Tesco had committed market abuse.

Although Mr Clarke was spared charges linked to the scandal, Mr Rogberg, Mr Bush and Mr Scouler – the former finance chief, managing director and food commercial head – faced a lengthy court case that eventually began in 2017.

They stood accused of being involved in a “white-collar crime” plot and were charged with fraud by abuse of position and false accounting.

After the initial trial collapsed, a retrial date was set for October this year.

The jury was told the case was a retrial and that Rogberg was charged with identical offences but was not currently well enough to stand trial.

A decision will be made in due course about what action should be taken in relation to Rogberg following the acquittals of Mr Scouler and Mr Bush.

All three maintained their innocence.

Dave Lewis, Mr Clarke’s successor as Tesco chief executive, has attempted to move the group on from the scandal.